Additional Services

Public Disclosure Guidance

The ORC advises full and broad disclosure in presentations and publications as a key
management strategy for conflicts of interest, actual and perceived. The scientific
community and the public are best served by open publication and presentation of financial
disclosures for readers, reviewers, and colleagues to evaluate. Full disclosure promotes
transparency and removes the suspicion that something of relevance to objectivity
is being hidden and allows readers to form their own opinions on the impact that the
interest may have to the study.

Journals

Journals often contain a specific conflict of interest disclosure section that will
outline requirements, such as relevant time period and scope of disclosure. Some may
ask for a declaration of “no conflicts.” You should disclose interactions with any
entity that could be considered broadly relevant to the work. For example, if your
article is about analyzing the nutritional value in corn, you should report all of
your associations with entities pursuing nutritional value in general, not just in
the area of nutritional value in corn.

Disclosure Obligations

MSU employees, authors, and presenters should disclose financial interests in related
outside entities and sources of support related to a presentation, public comment
(including online), or any publication of research results, the provision of expert
testimony on a subject, or if members of an audience would give weight to those interests in assessing the
opinions, advice, or work they are receiving. This includes the disclosure of the financial interest (by entity name) in a business
which owns or has a contractual relationship to the technology being reported or discussed
or which sponsors the research being reported or discussed – see template examples
below. Government agencies, research or academic universities, and other sources of
public funding need not be disclosed.

The following are examples of how a financial interest with an outside entity should
be disclosed in presentations and publications of research results. This disclosure
should occur in conjunction with an approved MSU Conflicts Management Plan or approved
conflicts exemption:

Example #1 – Equity Interest and Outside Board Participation:

These studies were supported by a grant from NIH (Award #_______). Jane Doe has an
equity interest in ABC, Inc., a company that may potentially benefit from the research
results, and also serves on the company's Scientific Advisory Board. The terms of
this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by Montana State University in accordance
with its conflict of interest policies.

This study was funded in part by the Montana Board of Research and Commercialization
Technology (MBRCT) #___ with matching funds from industrial partner ABC, Inc. John
Doe is the scientific founder of ABC, Inc. and has an equity interest in the company.
In addition, Bill Moe receives income from ABC, Inc. for serving on the Scientific
Advisory Board. The terms of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by the
Montana State University in accordance with its conflict of interest policies.

Example #3 – Private Sponsored Research Funding & Related Consulting:

Dr. John Doe receives research funding from ABC, Inc., which is developing products
related to the research described in this paper. In addition, the author serves as
a consultant to ABC, Inc. and receives compensation for these services. The terms
of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by Montana State University in
accordance with its conflict of interest policies.

These studies were supported by a STTR partnership subcontract from ABC, Inc. Jane
Doe is the inventor of intellectual property licensed to ABC, Inc. She also serves
on the ABC Scientific Advisory Board. The terms of this arrangement have been reviewed
and approved by Montana State University in accordance with its conflict of interest
policies.